Sound management systems for improving workplace efficiency

ABSTRACT

A sound management system for use by a user located within an environment includes a memory device for storing a selection of sounds. The sounds can be music and/or various “colors” of noise (e.g., white, pink, and brown). A controller is used to select one particular stored sound based on a measured biological condition of the user, such as stress or fatigue, or an environmental condition of the environment, such as ambient noise. According to one embodiment, the system is used in conjunction with a sit/stand desk and the sound selection is made in response to changes in the desk height. The selected sound is selected to help abate or mitigate distracting sounds in the environment, such as people talking. The selected sounds are played to the user through headphones worn by the user, or through nearby speakers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/019,102, filed on Jun. 26, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/612,302, filed on Feb. 3, 2015, andissued Jul. 31, 2018, as U.S. Pat. No. 10,038,592, which claims thebenefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/935,343,filed on Feb. 4, 2014, each of which is incorporated herein by referencein its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1) Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to devices and systems forbenefiting the health and efficiency of workers in a workplace, and moreparticularly, to systems and devices for the purpose of mitigating orotherwise controlling unwanted conversation and also managing structuredsounds (music) and random sounds generated within a workplace.

2) Discussion of Related Art

Today's workplace environments often include “open spaces” wherein manyemployees get to enjoy working in close proximity to each other inspaces that are generally replete of barriers, such as cubical walls.This open working arrangement is supposed to provide a means for thesharing ideas and collaboration which is supposed to improve workefficiency and creativity. It has the additional benefit of savingexpenses by maximizing floor space and simplifying the lightingrequirements for everyone, but unfortunately not everyone can work soefficiently in such an open environment and for many people, workefficiency and even morale can “take a hit.”

People are different and many people just need their space and don'tappreciate sharing with others and don't appreciate the manydistractions that have become common in such open space environments.One such distraction is sound, both general office noises (a nearbyphotocopier) and other people's conversations. People need toconcentrate and many cannot unless they can control the sounds withintheir work area. If two people seated next to a worker, for example,start a conversation with each other, the worker's brain willinvoluntarily listen-in and try to comprehend what is being said nearby.This often confuses the worker and his or her concentration and workefficiency plummets, that is until the conversation stops.

In an effort to maintain the benefits of an open-space layout for aworkplace and help control noise and regional intelligibleconversations, two basic sound-management systems have been developed,sound-cancellation and sound-masking.

Sound cancellation or “active noise control” electronically changes areceived incoming sound signal within an environment to minimize thesignal before it can be received by a human's ear. With soundcancellation, a sound signal is first received by a microphone that hasbeen placed within a subject environment. The signal analyzed by amicroprocessor and then an inverted signal (mirror image) is sent to aspeaker that has been positioned within the environment. The speakerbroadcasts the exact opposite of the original sound signal, thusflattening out the original sound signal, effectively cancelling it. Theend result is that the worker located within the environment will hearvery little background sounds.

Unfortunately, sound cancellation works best in a very controlled andsmall environment that has a uniform, consistent, and predictable shape.Therefore, such sound cancellation systems work best with headphones andare not suitable for controlling the many dynamic frequencies common inopen areas, such as within a large room that includes a myriad ofsources of sounds, moving objects and complex and unpredictable shapesof all sizes. Any attempt to mitigate the background sounds in such acomplex environment would require massive processors and a multitude ofmicrophones and speakers. This would be prohibitively expensive andstill would likely only produce marginal sound-control within theenvironment.

Sound masking, on the other hand, works on the principle that whenbackground noise is added to an environment, speech becomes lessintelligible. The “Articulation Index” (or “AI), which is a measurementof intelligible speech is controlled within the environment. In orderfor sound masking to be effective, the AI must be lowered by a change inthe signal-to-noise ratio. The “signal” is typically a person speakingwithin the environment, and the “noise” is the sound masking signal.

A high signal-to-noise ratio means that speech within the environment isvery intelligible and the workers will suffer by not being able toconcentrate. By simply introducing select sounds (controlled noise) tothe environment, the signal to noise ratio can be reduced significantly,to the point that the voices carried by anyone speaking within a subjectenvironment will become unintelligible a short distance away so thateven nearby workers will not become distracted and work efficiency willpresumably remain unaffected. The generated noise used in suchsound-masking systems is typically what is referred to as “white noise”,but so-called “pink noise” can be applied as will.

To be effective, sound masking systems must generate sound that is bothrandom and within a specific range of frequency and decibels. The humanbrain will actively process received sounds in which it can identify arecognizable pattern, such as speech, but will quickly tune out soundsit cannot make sense of, such as static sounds. Sound masking works byinjecting a random, low-level background noise within the environmentthat correlates in frequency to human speech. Control of the decibellevel and frequency of the generated noise (white or pink) within theenvironment is critical. The noise should be just loud enough to make itdifficult to understand conversations a predetermined distance away.However, should the noise become too loud, the human brain will nolonger ignore it and the noise will begin to interfere with other humanprocessing, such as working. Care must be taken to insure that both thedecibel level and the frequency of the sound masking system isappropriate for the particular environment. This is what a “white noise”system does to mask sound—it basically “fills in” the sound spectrumaround you with barely perceptible “unstructured” noise. The sounds ofrunning water serve well as white noise because the sounds are able tomask human speech very well, without distracting or annoying a listener.The running water sound creates a random, yet relatively uniform soundwave, within a specific frequency spectrum.

Early sound-masking systems installed in buildings in the 1960ssimulated the sound of air moving by electronically filtering randomnoise produced by gas-discharge vacuum tubes. Loudspeakers in theceiling distributed the amplified noise signal throughout the office.However, making human speech unintelligible required a volume level sohigh that the sound masking itself became a distracting annoyance.

In the 1970s, electronically generated sound masking employed frequencygenerators that shaped sound to better mask speech became more practicaland worked well when installed correctly. In the 1980s, researchersbegan using 1/f noise, the phenomenon also known as “flicker” or “pink”noise. Calibrating this “pink” noise to match the frequencies of humanspeech raised the threshold of audibility just enough to maskintelligibility without requiring the higher volumes used in earliersystems.

Music and Headphones: Although the above sound masking techniques maywork well in many situations, many people just cannot listen to thesounds of “ocean waves” all day long. It is not uncommon for workers tosimply play some music through their headphones to help create acontrolled sound environment and effectively mask surrounding sounds.Unfortunately, even a preset playlist of songs may not also match aparticular user's need throughout a day.

Although many of the above-described sound masking systems workgenerally well, Applicants have recognized areas of improvement withsuch systems.

Objects of the Invention

It is therefore a first object of the invention to overcome thedeficiencies of the prior art.

It is another object of the invention to provide a useful, effectivesound masking system that can be altered automatically in response toselect inputs.

It is another object of the invention to provide a sound controller forcontrolling the sounds played to a user in response to select inputs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A sound management system for use by a user located within anenvironment includes a memory device for storing a selection of sounds.The sounds can be music and/or various “colors” of noise (e.g., white,pink, and brown). A controller is used to select one particular storedsound based on a measured biological condition of the user, such asstress or fatigue, or an environmental condition of the environment,such as ambient noise. According to one embodiment, the system is usedin conjunction with a sit/stand desk and the sound selection is made inresponse to changes in the desk height. The selected sound is selectedto help abate or mitigate distracting sounds in the environment, such aspeople talking. The selected sounds are played to the user throughheadphones worn by the user, or through nearby speakers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be more fully understood from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a sound management system,according to a first embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1 and according to a first embodiment of thisinvention, a sound-management system 10 is schematically illustrated andincludes sound generator 12, power supply 14, sound controller 16, andsound output device 18. Sound output device 18 may be any of severaldevices, including open speakers, headphones, bone-conductiontransducers, vibration generators and any other device that is able toconvert electrical signal into a corresponding sound wave that can beheard or felt by a user in a particular environment. Applicants consideruse of headphones to be a preferred sound output device for thisinvention.

Sound generator 12 produces sound, either structured, such as music, orrandom noise, such as “pink noise.” The sound can either be pre-recordedand provided as sound or music files (stored on an appropriate memory),or can be a circuit-based device that includes electrical componentsthat are arranged to generate electronic “noise” and other electricalcomponents that provide various filters for altering the generated noiseprior to outputting the signal to a sound output device 18. As is wellknown by those of ordinary skill in the art, depending on the specificsof the filtering circuitry various types of noise can be created, suchas “white”, “brown”, “grey”, “violet”, “blue”, and “pink.” Each type of“noise” has different sound characteristics, as described below:

WHITE: White noise is a signal made of uncorrelated samples, such as thenumbers produced by a random generator. When such randomness occurs, thesignal will contain all frequencies in equal proportion and its spectrumwill turn flat. Most white noise generators use uniformly distributedrandom numbers because they are easy to generate. Some more expensivegenerators rely on a Gaussian distribution, as it represents a betterapproximation of many real-world random processes. To the human auditorysystem, white noise sounds much brighter than what one would expect froma “flat” spectrum. This is because human hearing senses frequencies on alogarithmic scale (the octaves) rather than a linear scale. On thelogarithmic scale, white noise packs more energy in the higher octaves,hence its bright sound. White noise sounds similar to TV channel staticor “snow.”

BROWN: “Brown” noise (also called “red” noise) is a random signal thathas been filtered in order to generate a lot of energy at lowfrequencies. Its power density is inversely proportional to f 2 anddecreases by 6 dB per octave. Brown noise produces a much warmer tonethan white noise (0 dB/oct) or pink noise (−3 dB/oct). Brown noise packsa lot of energy in the lowest frequencies. Each octave packs as muchenergy as the two octaves above it. For example, the 20 Hz bandwidthbetween 20 Hz and 40 Hz (one octave) will contain the same sound poweras the 120 Hz bandwidth between 40 Hz and 160 Hz (the next two octaves).Brown noise is very relaxing to listen to—sounding similar to powerfulocean waves.

GREY: Although white noise plays equally loudly at all frequencies, itfails in giving the listener such a perception, because ofpsychoacoustics. Grey noise is created by passing white noise through afilter to invert the frequency sensitivity curve. As a result, greynoise sounds relatively flat—a bit like muffled white noise.

VIOLET: Violet noise is known as differentiated white noise, due to itsbeing the result of the differentiation of a white noise signal. Violetnoise generates very high energies at higher frequencies. Its powerdensity is proportional to f 2 and increases by 6 dB per octave. Violetnoise is also referred to as purple noise. This noise is sharp and notvery soothing to listen to unless the volume is very low.

BLUE: Blue noise is a random signal that has been filtered in order togenerate higher energies at higher frequencies. Its power density isproportional to the frequency and increases by 3 dB per octave.

Blue noise is also referred as azure noise and packs a lot of energy inthe highest frequencies: each octave packs as much energy as the twooctaves below it. Blue noise sounds very sharp and is not very soothingto listening to.

PINK: Pink noise has a spectral envelope that is not flat within afrequency but rolls off at higher frequencies. Pink noise has a greaterrelative proportion of low frequency energy than white noise and soundsless “hissy.”

To the human auditory system—which processes frequencieslogarithmically—pink noise is supposed to sound even across allfrequencies, and therefore best approximates the average spectraldistribution of music. In practice however, it turns out that human earsare more sensitive to certain frequencies, such as in the 2-4 kHz range.Pink noise, despite its even frequency distribution in the logarithmicfrequency scale, is perceived as “colored”, with a prominent peakperceived around 3 kHz.

Pink noise is a random signal, filtered to have equal energy per octave.In order to keep the energy constant over the octaves, the spectraldensity is required to decrease as the frequency (f) increases (“1/fnoise”). In terms of decibels, this decrease corresponds to 3 dB peroctave on the magnitude spectrum.

A basic electronic noise-generating circuit is understood by those ofordinary skill in the art of electronics and the circuit details of sucha circuit are generally beyond the scope of this invention. Of course,as is understood by those skilled in the art, that different filtercomponents will create different types of “noise”, including the severalcolor types noise types listed above.

Referring again to FIG. 1, and according to one embodiment of thepresent invention, sound generator controller 16 is connected to soundgenerator 12 and includes appropriate circuitry that causes soundgenerator 12 to either:

A) change the type of sound being outputted to sound output device 18;and/or

B) change a sound characteristic of the sound being outputted to soundoutput device 18, in response to receipt of input signal 20.

The term “sound characteristic”, includes volume or loudness, timbre,harmonics, rhythm, and pitch. The term “type of sound” refers to soundthat is either random noise or structured sound, such as music. Anexample of “changing the type of sound” can be changing the outputtednoise from pink to grey, or white to blue, etc., again in response toreceipt of input signal 20. Another example of “changing the type ofsound” can be simply changing the song or the genre of music beingplayed, in response to receipt of input signal 20.

As is well understood, all circuitry described herein will be powered byan appropriate power supply 14, which is electrically connected to thecircuitry, as required.

In operation, sound management system 10 can be incorporated into anenvironment for the purpose of managing nearby sounds through maskingtechniques. As mentioned above, the environment can be very small andcontrolled, such as a user wearing headphones, larger, such as a desk,or huge, such as a large room including several workers and desks. Forthe purpose of explanation however, Applicants are considering theenvironment to be small and controlled—headphones.

Headphones 18 are connected to sound generator 12, which is, in turnconnected to sound generator controller 16. As a user works, he or shewears the headphones while a predetermined electronic sound is playedthrough the headphones. The user will enjoy “sound protection” withinthe surrounding environment (outside the headphone area) because theelectronic noise playing in his or her ears will effectively mask anyoutside noises from reaching his or her ears. In this arrangement,people located nearby the worker can carry on a conversation without theworker hearing them.

According to a first embodiment of the present invention, the user (theperson wearing the headphones) can create an input signal 20 that can,in turn, cause sound generator controller 16 to cause sound generator 12to change the type of electronic sound being played in the headphones,or a sound characteristic of the sound being played in the headphones.The input signal can be created manually (for example, by simplypressing a switch), or automatically, in response to detection of achange of a preset condition. Examples of preset conditions include:

a) Detection of a change of software program being used by the worker;

b) At preset times during the day (such as every hour);

c) At random times throughout the day;

d) Upon detection of changes of the level of ambient noise measured inthe room (such as by a microphone);

e) Detection of the user changing their position (such as sitting downfrom standing, or standing up from sitting);

f) Detection of a change of height of a sit/stand desk being used by theuser;

g) Detection of changes of energy levels of the user (e.g., change inmeasured heart rate); and

h) Changes in measured ambient temperature readings.

By way of example, as a user “surfs the web”, a certain type of soundand sound characteristic will play in the user's headphones. If the userthen starts to read an article, for example, or review spreadsheets, thepresent sound management system 10, according to the present inventionwill automatically detect this change in type of work and will changeeither the type of sound being played on the headphones, or change somesound characteristic. The present sound management system 10 can use asimple algorithm to compare the type of programs that are being used bythe user on their computer with a prescribed list to help select anappropriate (or predetermined) type of sound and an appropriate soundcharacteristic for the particular detected work or task.

In some instances, sound management system 10 can predict what type ofwork the user is doing while surfing the Internet by detecting level ofactivity. For example, the present system can measure mouse movement todecide the type of music the user would benefit from. If the user isactively using his or her mouse (or other input device) and activelyclicking on links as they surf, then one type of music could be playingin the user's headphones, for example, an upbeat, high-energy type ofmusic. However, if it is later determined that the mouse-use has stopped(or less clicks per minute are detected), then sound management system10 may decide that it is likely the user is now reading or reviewing aselected article or webpage and may then change the type of music tobenefit that particular activity, such as changing the music tosomething more soothing so the user can better concentrate on thearticle or webpage.

By way of another example, when the present sound management system 10is used in combination with a motorized sit/stand desk, such as onecommercially available by Stirworks, Inc, of Pasadena, Calif., USA(www.Stirworks.com), accelerometers or other appropriate sensors locatedin the desk can be used to predict the type of work the user is doing.Perhaps the present system is programmed (following the setup by theuser) to change the music from soothing when the desk is at the “sit”height to high-energy when the desk moves to the “stand’ height. Also,vertical displacement frequency of desk movement and desk-heightduration at certain heights can be used to predict the level of stressor fatigue of the user and can thereby select the best type of sound andsound characteristic to benefit the user and mitigate the effects of thestress and fatigue.

Other sensors that can be used as input signals for controlling theselected type and characteristic of the sound, according to thisinvention, include the user's computer (as it's being used), anyelectronic wearable device, such as a health-monitoring device (formeasuring a user's blood pressure, body temperature and heart-rate andlevel of accumulative and recent activity, a microphone, a thermalsensor, a camera, a touch screen input device, and a computer mouse.These sensors, used alone or in combination can detect levels of stress,fatigue and activity which in turn, can be used to control the type ofsound and its characteristic. Sound management system 10 can use thiscollected information to tune the music, for example, or the type ofnoise to “match” the measured type and level of work or stress. If thework is determined to be something like Internet surfing, or sketching,etc., the music selected can be active (e.g., rock) and itscharacteristic can increase in tempo and/or volume.

If the work is determined to be more stressful, perhaps indicated by ameasured higher heart-rate of the user, then the music type could bemore relaxing, such as jazz or classical, or the type of sound could bechanged to an appropriate soothing background noise, such as quiet brownnoise.

If sound management system 10 determines or predicts that the user isreading or doing an activity that requires focus and comprehension, thenthe system will automatically decrease the volume and tempo and selectmusic (or other) that includes no words or lyrics.

The present system can also use microphones (not shown) to measureexternal noise and other potential audible distractions located withinear-shot of the user and then moderate the overall volume and type ofsounds played to the user in an effort to mask or at least mitigate thelevel of distraction that these nearby sounds may have on the user.

The sounds that are sent to the user's ears may be sent throughheadphones that the user wears, or may be sent via nearby speakers,including speakers that are incorporated into the construction of thedesk itself (i.e., embedded).

When the present sound-management system 10 is used in combination witha work-desk, the system can “listen” to the local environment and usethe measured information to adjust the type of white noise or musicplayed to the user's ears and the characteristics of that noise ormusic. As the level of measured audible distractions in the environmentincrease, the amplitude of the noise or the music sent to the user'sears likewise increases, but only up to a point. If the “corrective”noise or music sent the user's ears becomes too loud, at some point,this corrective sound itself will become a distraction to the user.

As described above, various “colors” of noise are predetermined andcontrolled spectrums of sound. According to another embodiment of thepresent invention, sound management system 10 can create its ownspecific noise with specific spectrum characteristics based on the tonesthe system detects around the user and the user's desk. For example, ifthe present system detects a person nearby speaking in a low voice, thesystem can introduce a type of music or sets of tones (or othergenerated custom noise) that are in a similar tonal range as the nearbydistracting voice. By matching the audible distraction with similartones (preferably of noise or sounds without words or lyrics), thedistracting conversion will become effectively masked and the user'sbrain will not bother to try to understand it, thereby keeping the userfocused and unbothered. This allows the system to abate or mitigate thedistracting sounds and lower the Articulation Index without having togenerate a full spectrum of noise.

Similarly, if a high squeaking noise is detected by the system of thepresent invention, a noise that is generated perhaps from a nearby dooropening and closing, the generated corrective noise produced by thepresent system for the user's ears could be instantly shifted in thatdirection on the sound spectrum, functioning similar to a conventionalactive noise-cancellation system. By focusing on correcting or balancingthe detected and measured frequency spectrum signature of the nearbydistraction, the distracting noise can effectively be mitigated withouta noticeable increase in amplitude in the user's ears.

System can be moved from random noise (white, pink, etc) to music usinglocal controls (touch screen, etc).

If the user is wearing a device that measures levels of energyexpenditure (such as a Fitbit® device, which is manufactured by Fitbit,Inc. of San Francisco, Calif., USA), the present sound management systemwill be able to “read” the Fitbit® device and change the type of musicin response to the data read. For example, if the user recentlycompleted a lot of exercise, the present sound management system 10 willchange the music being played in the user's headphones to perhapssomething more upbeat to make sure that the user doesn't fall asleep.

The user may have control of the present sound-management system tooverride any music or noise that the system automatically creates, andselect their own from a list of selections, both of music and different“colored” noises. The user can also adjust other characteristics of thegenerated sounds, as desired. The user can make these adjustments usingan appropriate controlling device, such as a computer with atouch-screen, or perhaps a tablet, or smart phone. Sound managementsystem 10 is also able to automatically mix in music with any of thecolored noises so that if a user is listening to white noise for an houror so, for example, the present system can automatically and preferablyslowly mix in the sounds of recognizable music. This will allow the userto avoid getting sick of listening to random noise for long periods oftime. After a prescribed period of time, the system can slowly blendother noise patterns to create an effective sound that helps the user toabate or mitigate nearby audible distractions. Sound management system10 allows the user a little variety in the sounds being played.

According to another embodiment of the invention, sound managementsystem 10 includes a wireless connection (or a direct wired connection)to a user's computer or smart phone and is able to play specific sounds,such as music, in response to information on the user's calendar. Forexample, if it is shown on the user's calendar that the user has somefree time between 3:00 and 3:30, the present system can play some upbeatmusic or some of the user's favorite songs. If the user will be going toa concert later that evening to see a particular band, the system willbe able to obtain details of the band and the time an event of theconcert from the user's smart phone, for example and then use thisinformation to play select songs by that band . . . to get the user inthe right “mood” for the concert later that night. Similarly, the usermay be traveling to a country soon, such as Mexico, and the presentsystem will learn this from the connected smart phone or computer andperhaps play Mexican music and sounds at different moments leading up tothe day of travel. The system will learn what music and specific songsand sounds that the user likes (by keeping track of the frequency ofwhich certain songs and sounds are played) and will play one or more ofthese preferred songs or sounds for the user at a specific time duringthe day and week. The present system will remember that the user lovesto hear a particular song on Fridays at a given time and will play thatsong when the internal clock indicates that exact time and day.

The present system can detect which application the user is using on hisor her computer or smart phone and could play sounds or music that arespecific to particular detected applications. For example, when the userlogs into Facebook®, the present system will detect this and will startplaying a specific set of music tracks, perhaps “fun” and upbeat music,since the system will assume that the user is taking a break from workto enjoy reading their “wall.”

Also, the present system can read inputs or profile data or favoritesong lists generated by music programs, including Spotify® and Pandora®,and use this information and biometric data to help select new soundsand music to be played for the user at different times.

The present system is adapted to absorb any reachable information thatprovides context, such as where the user has been, what the user hasbeen doing, and perhaps where the user will be going in the future. Thesystem can then use this information to help select the types of musicand sounds appropriate for the user, given other information, such astime of day, and other environment and biological conditions, describedabove.

The present system can use immediate user feedback to help learn whatthe user likes and dislikes and use this information to help plan futuresounds and music. For example, if the system selects a song and the userturns the music off or skips the song, or turns the music down, then thesystem will know that it selected a song or sound that you likely do notlike. It will then remove this particular song from the primary songlist and move it to a secondary list. At random times, the system canplay the song again from the secondary list and see how the userresponds. If the response is still negative, the system will move thesong to the “no-play” folder, where it will remain until the user movesit back to the primary list.

According to another feature of the present invention, in a workenvironment where there are several desks, each using the present soundmanagement system 10, the system can work with all the users by allowingeach to effectively vote on the sound being played, either a randomnoise or a particular song, and cause the system to accommodate theplayed sounds and music based on the consensus vote. The voting could beinputted by touch screen connected to a smart phone or computer that hisconnected to the system 10 by WIFI or other appropriate connection.

Also, each desk could include a microphone, as mentioned above, whereinall microphones would be connected to the sound management system 10.According to this feature, the microphones could be used to collectdistracting sounds (sound levels at different frequencies). Thisinformation could be used to determine which areas within a workenvironment are quiet and which are loud. Workers could then move aboutwithin the environment to find the best work zone based on thisinformation. This information would be sensitive to time and would bedynamic but it is likely that trends could be formed to establish zoneswithin the work environment that offer average quiet and averagemoderate sounds within a range of volume and frequency that isconsidered distracting.

What is claimed:
 1. A sound management system for use with a heightadjustable desk assembly including a height adjustable worktop that canbe moved between at least first and second worktop heights, the soundmanagement system comprising: a sound generator for generating any of aplurality of sounds wherein each sound is audibly different than theother sounds in the plurality of sounds; and a controller programmed tomonitor a current configuration of the desk assembly, the controllerperiodically selecting different sounds based at least in part on if theworktop is currently at the first height or at the second height andcontrolling the sound generator to periodically generate the selectedsounds, wherein the sounds generated are substantially persistent whilea user is using the desk assembly.
 2. The sound management system ofclaim 1 wherein the first and second different heights are a standingheight and a sitting height, respectively.
 3. The sound managementsystem of claim 1 further including at least a first sensor device fordetecting the current configuration of the desk assembly, the controllerlinked to the sensor for receiving information indicating the currentconfiguration.
 4. The sound management system of claim 1 furtherincluding a speaker wherein the sound generator generates sound via thespeaker.
 5. The sound management system of claim 1 further including auser interface and wherein the user can manually control the soundsgenerated by the sound generator by overriding the controller selection.6. The sound management system of claim 1 wherein the controller alsoselects sounds at least in part based on prior configurations of thedesk assembly.
 7. The sound management system of claim 1 wherein thecontroller also monitors frequency of changes to the desk assemblyconfiguration and also selects sounds at least in part based on thefrequency of changes to the desk assembly configuration.
 8. The soundmanagement system of claim 1 for use with an assembly user's electroniccalendar wherein the controller accesses the user's electronic calendarand selects sounds based at least in part on the user's electroniccalendar entries.
 9. The sound management system of claim 1 wherein theuser uses a computer at the desk assembly and wherein the controllermonitors user activities on the computer and selects sounds at least inpart based on the monitored user activities.
 10. The sound managementsystem of claim 9 wherein the monitored user activities include whichapplication programs the user is currently using.
 11. The soundmanagement system of claim 9 wherein the monitored activities includehow frequently the user interacts with the computer.
 12. The soundmanagement system of claim 1 further including an ambient sound sensorand wherein the controller selects sounds at least in part based onambient sounds detected by the sound sensor.
 13. The sound managementsystem of claim 12 wherein the sounds are selected to at least in partto mask the detected ambient sounds.
 14. The sound management system ofclaim 1 wherein the controller selects sounds by selecting at least oneof a sound type and a sound characteristic.
 15. The sound managementsystem of claim 1 wherein the controller selects sounds by selectingeach of a sound type and a sound characteristic.
 16. The soundmanagement system of claim 15, wherein the sound characteristic is atleast one of volume, timbre, harmonics, rhythm and pitch.
 17. The soundmanagement system of claim 1 wherein the controller selects sounds atleast in part based on a current time of day.
 18. The sound managementsystem of claim 1 further including a sensor for sensing user posture,the controller selecting sounds based at least in part on user posture.19. The sound management system of claim 1 further including a memorydevice wherein the sound generator generates sounds by accessing data inthe memory device that specifies sound characteristics and using thatdata to generate sounds.
 20. The sound management system of claim 1wherein the sound generator includes a synthesizer so that the soundgenerator synthesizes sounds.
 21. A sound management system for use witha height adjustable desk assembly that includes a height adjustableworktop, the sound management system comprising: a sound generator forgenerating any of a plurality of sounds wherein each sound is audiblydifferent than the other sounds in the plurality of sounds; and acontroller programmed to monitor posture of a person using the deskassembly, monitoring posture including determining at least each of if auser is sitting at the workstation or standing at the workstation, thecontroller periodically selecting different sounds based at least inpart on the current posture of the user at the workstation andcontrolling the sound generator to periodically generate the selectedsounds, wherein the controller selects sounds by selecting each of asound type and a sound characteristic and wherein the soundcharacteristic is at least one of volume, timbre, harmonics, rhythm andpitch.
 22. A sound management system for use with a height adjustabledesk assembly that includes a worktop that can be moved between firstand second worktop heights, the sound management system comprising: asound generator for generating any of a plurality of sounds wherein eachsound is audibly different than the other sounds in the plurality ofsounds; and a controller programmed to monitor a current configurationof the desk assembly, the controller periodically selecting differentsounds based at least in part on the current height of the worktop andprior worktop height adjustment frequency and controlling a speaker toperiodically generate the selected sounds, wherein the sounds generatedare substantially persistent while a user is using the desk assembly.23. The sound management system of claim 21 wherein the sounds generatedare substantially persistent while a user is using the desk assembly.24. The sound management system of claim 21 further including a userinterface and wherein the user can manually control the sounds generatedby the sound generator by overriding the controller selection.
 25. Thesound management system of claim 21 wherein the user uses a computer atthe desk assembly and wherein the controller monitors user activities onthe computer and selects sounds at least in part based on the monitoreduser activities.
 26. The sound management system of claim 21 wherein thecontroller selects sounds by selecting at least one of a sound type anda sound characteristic.
 27. The sound management system of claim 26,wherein the sound characteristic is at least one of volume, timbre,harmonics, rhythm and pitch.
 28. The sound management system of claim 21wherein the controller selects sounds at least in part based on acurrent time of day.
 29. The sound management system of claim 21,further including a memory device wherein the sound generator generatessounds by accessing data in the memory device that specifies soundcharacteristics and using that data to generate sounds.
 30. The soundmanagement system of claim 21 wherein the sound generator includes asynthesizer so that the sound generator synthesizes sounds.
 31. Thesound management system of claim 22, wherein the controller periodicallyselects different sounds based on whether the current height is astanding height or a sitting height.
 32. The sound management system ofclaim 22 further including at least a first sensor device for detectingthe current configuration of the desk assembly, the controller linked tothe sensor for receiving information indicating the currentconfiguration.
 33. The sound management system of claim 22 furtherincluding a user interface and wherein the user can manually control thesounds generated by the sound generator by overriding the controllerselection.
 34. The sound management system of claim 22 wherein thecontroller also monitors frequency of changes to the desk assemblyconfiguration and also selects sounds at least in part based on thefrequency of changes to the desk assembly configuration.
 35. The soundmanagement system of claim 22 wherein the user uses a computer at thedesk assembly and wherein the controller monitors user activities on thecomputer and selects sounds at least in part based on the monitored useractivities.
 36. The sound management system of claim 22 wherein thecontroller selects sounds by selecting at least one of a sound type anda sound characteristic.
 37. The sound management system of claim 36,wherein the sound characteristic is at least one of volume, timbre,harmonics, rhythm and pitch.
 38. The sound management system of claim 22wherein the controller selects sounds at least in part based on acurrent time of day.
 39. The sound management system of claim 22,further including a memory device wherein the sound generator generatessounds by accessing data in the memory device that specifies soundcharacteristics and using that data to generate sounds.
 40. The soundmanagement system of claim 22 wherein the sound generator includes asynthesizer so that the sound generator synthesizes sounds.